Protestors say ring-and-ride is a vital life-line to the elderly and disabled who could become prisoners in their own homes because it is their only lifeline to the outside world.

The service is also used by 1,700 special needs children every day.

Until now, the focus of the campaign has been on these vulnerable groups and the devastating effect it will have on their daily lives.

But now it has emerged that there is an uncertain future for nearly 400 staff, mainly drivers, who are employed on ring-and-ride, full-time and part-time.

Centro is facing a massive headache in deciding how to slash £14.1 million from its budget from April.

The cuts are necessary because the seven district councils which fund Centro – Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall, Coventry and Solihull – have had their funding hacked by central government.

As well as ring-and-ride, the targets are vitally-needed, but lesser-used bus services; free travel for OAPs on trains and trams, and half-price bus tickets for children.

All four are ‘discretionary’ services – not ones protected by law, such as free bus passes.

Following extensive public consultation, Centro’s dilemma is to decide whether to axe one whole sector – or cut a little from all four.

West Midlands Pensioners’ Convention has collected more than 55,000 signatures for a petition calling on Centro to save ring-and-ride.

The final decision on where the axe will fall will be made by the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority (ITA) on February 14.

But another crucial date is next Wednesday, January 29, when the leaders of the seven district councils meet to try to devise a solution for the ITA gathering two weeks’ later.

The ring-and-ride service in the West Midlands is provided by Birmingham-based West Midlands Special Needs Transport.

The not-for-profit company employs 800 people, of whom 390 work on the ring-and ride service.

Richard Worrall, co-ordinator of the Save the Ring-and-Ride Campaign, said: “That’s an awful lot of jobs and some, if not all, of them could be at risk.

“We are primarily focused on the catastrophe which will ensue on the most vulnerable in our community if ring-and-ride is stopped.

“But saving jobs is another important element in the fight because jobs are very hard to come by in the current economic climate.

“I hope that the council leaders back the terms of our petition and press to maintain the level of service in the face of these cuts being imposed by Westminster.

“We also want them to call on this government – or a future government – to bring in legislation requiring local authorities to provide a minimum standard of accessible transport for their citizens.”

The Sunday Mercury understands that one possible ‘solution’ to the ring-and-ride crisis is for local authorities to take over the service in their areas.

But critics say this idea is doubly flawed because the local authorities are strapped for cash – the reason for the Centro cuts – and there would be a postcode lottery with councils offering different levels of service.

Mr Worrall said he was strongly opposed to the ‘Balkanisation’ of the scheme.